Alfred's Top Miami Picks in American Way →
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Cocaine Cowboys Producer Alfred Spellman talks storytelling and trust in doc filmmaking (Videomaker) →
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Sexual assault. Drug smuggling. Illegal steroid use. No subject matter is off-limits for Miami based documentary production company Rakontur. With an explosive documentary catalogue that includes titles like Cocaine Cowboys, The U, Raw Deal and their latest release Screwball, Rakontur producer Alfred Spellman is no stranger to high-stakes filmmaking.
Along with director Billy Corben, Spellman built a powerhouse documentary company. Rakontur specializes in bringing the “Florida F*ckery” to the big screen.
Billy Corben On The Literary Roots Of ‘Florida Man,’ His Favorite Florida Movies, And Florida’s Influence On Trump (UPROXX) →
When I got Billy Corben on the phone this week, I asked how he was doing by way of opening pleasantry. “Exhausted, thanks for asking,” Corben told me, an understandable response from anyone doing a press tour, as Corben is, to promote his new documentary, Screwball (which I recently described as “an insane masterpiece of Floridiana.”)
Then I asked my first real question, and Corben proceeded to give one of the most expansive, caffeinated interviews I’ve ever conducted. This is exhausted? Billy Corben’s tired makes my wired look like Steven Seagal after a couple quaaludes.
I soon found that Corben is easy to wind up, loves to tell stories, and is a great salesman, which probably helps explain what makes him such great documentarian — whose mostly Florida-based ouvre includes Cocaine Cowboys (1 and 2), Dawg Fight, and The U (1 and 2). Where some documentarians seem to have a standard style guide that they merely apply to different subjects (Ken Burns’ photo zooms come to mind), Corben’s subjects seem to inspire his formalistic approach.
rakontur Day declared in City of Miami Beach
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Billy and Alfred take Anthony Bourdain for stone crabs and beer on Parts Unknown: Miami →
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First the Reuben, now the Corben (Miami New Times) →
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Blue Collar's chef Danny Serfer has gained a cult following since he opened his small restaurant in January. Grab a seat and look around. Chances are, if you've been there more than once, you'll start to recognize the faces of regulars who come weekly -- sometimes even daily.
Serfer's biggest fan could perhaps be film director and producer Billy Corben, who drops in daily on his way to his office at rakontur.
It's Corben, you see, who has been charged with picking up lunch for the Rakontur crew. And more times than not, lunch is from Blue Collar. Corben is such a devotee of the place's food, that he recently had a sandwich named after him: twin brisket sandwiches on Portuguese muffins with Dijon mustard accompanied by potato latkes and a bowl of au jus for dipping.